Almost half of consumers use voice search

Whether you’re designing a website for a customer or having your own website built for your brand, a new survey carried out by Adobe has given new importance to voice search.The Voice Trends & Statistics: What Designers Need to Know About the New Tech Boom report says 48% of consumers use voice to perform general web searches, indicating that voice is now firmly established as a search technology. 94% of users say voice technology is easy to use according to Adobe – which means we could see the adoption rate creeping higher still or voice being used for more types of search other than simply general web ones.

Use types Voice is convenient by nature and, due to the fact that no hands are required, it shouldn’t come as much surprise to learn that it’s especially popular for things like directions when driving. If you’re an entrepreneur who’s taken up our web design business opportunity or a business owner having a new site built, this is a key point to take notice of. The prevalence of voice search for directions means you should consider how you can optimise your location or contact pages for voice to better able consumers to plan their visit and find your place of business.Overall, Adobe found voice search is used most commonly:·For driving directions·To make a phone call·To send a text·To check the weather·To play music·To conduct a general web search·To shop·To send an email Keep it simple Those surveyed said that they preferred to use voice search for simpler and more straightforward tasks but wouldn’t use it for something more complicated, such as booking a trip or banking. In future however, consumers said that with the evolution of technology they may use voice for shopping, booking medical appointments, requesting specific amenities in a hotel room or ordering groceries.Again, this nugget of information can inform your voice search optimisation as you’ll need to think of voice as part of the discovery or consideration process rather than the final point of purchase. To that end, you may want to optimise your information pages and blog posts for voice search to tap into this consumer behaviour. Technology When thinking about voice search, keep in mind that your end user will predominantly be using a smartphone, with 85% of voice adoption concentrated here.